Blogs, Better Tools
Posted by TulipGirl | Under Blog Stuff, Christianity and the Church Sunday Aug 24, 2008Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.”
Start where you stand,
and work with whatever tools you may have at your command,
and better tools will be found as you go along.George Herbert, via Camille
Reluctantly, dragging my feet, resistant to let go of ritual. . . At the prodding of my pastor of all people, I am finally embracing RSS and using Google reader to keep up with my online friends.
After church today, our pastor led a mini-seminar on utilizing web technology in a positive way. Afterwards, one gentleman told me he was “too old” for that sort of thing — and then waxed eloquently about his iMac and how he frequented the pastor’s blog. Too old? No way! Though, it has taken a little bit of prodding for my grandmother to like her new laptop. . . still she’s checking her e-mail and looking at family pics online now.
From time to time I come across an article or academic research that points to problems with technology, cautions about the web being a barrier to community. I think those warnings are very valid. And yet. . . So many times in my life I’ve been physically isolated (at home with small kids, a move to a new state where I’ll only live a few months, on the other side of the ocean from family), and yet have been able to maintain relationships, continue communication, stay sane because of this same technology.
How often it just comes back to the same refrain that is true of so much of life. . . Balance.
Of all people…
I actually don’t use Google Reader. I introduced that as the most accessible. I use a different RSS reader – Shrook – which just fits how I work.
Packer calls ‘Balance’ a horribly pretentious word. But it all depends upon context. Perhaps here we mean moderation, eh?
No question that technology shapes us. I would love to return to the day when people actually wrote physical paper and ink letters to each other – to a day when going to the mailbox was something fun to do. But it’s not going to happen. So, we use the means available to us to maximize community. Eventually I think the technology does get wrestled to our service.
But I ramble.
Ironic, I am in the midst of merging all my reads back into an old-fashioned blogroll for my blog. I have not managed my blogroll since I began using Google Reader. It is woefully out of date with old blogs. I realized a week ago, that with the use of the feedreader I have become more distant with my blog friends. I tend to comment less, not taking the time to click through. I don’t get the full affect of their blogs, the personalities they put into their themes. Also, I would like to give as many page loads to those to whome it matters, either because of silly blog ego and the emotional trick-or-treating it provides
or the page loads for ads. It’s just my way of giving back and reconnecting.
Moderation, hmmm? I can see how that is preferable to balance.
tSL, the ritual of clicking through is part of what I’ve been loathe to give up. And I don’t like how I miss the look and layout of the blogs like you said. . . it’s like visiting people in their home, to an extent.
I still don’t have my “new” blogroll all updated, though.
Btw, I looked at shrook. . . looks MUCH cleaner and less cluttered. (I hate visual clutter.) But since I use gmail, google docs, etc. . . I think I’ll try out google reader for now and see what happens.
Only just using a feed reader? Tsk, tsk…
I only wish our pastor had half the interest in technology as yours did. Especially living in a college town where a lot of people are tech savvy, I think we could do a lot of helpful things.
I personally like Sage Too because it integrates into Firefox. It all depends on what your needs are.
I also like to read someones post on the blog itself, not through the feed reader. So I just use the RSS feed to kind of preview what the post is about and then click on through if I want to read the whole thing. Plus, I want to be able to see the comments as well.
I love using the Google Reader!
TulipGirl,
I am a first time visitor and just put you in my Google Reader!
Tulip Girl, thanks so much for your comment on my blog and for your input on 10 year old bdays. The big day was yesterday…and while we did have a special party with special family friends, we didn’t come up with a special gift idea. However, I really like the Bible idea. We’re still thinking. I’ll let you know what we come up with. In any case, we had a really fun celebration, and I know that he is excited to have some new privileges (as well as responsibilities) that the younger siblings don’t have right now.
Blessings to you and the family, especially as the new school year starts up!
Have you actually considered adding a lot more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers a lot more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it had been very good but since I’m a lot more of the visual learner,I discovered that to be more useful nicely let me know how it turns out! I adore what you guys are always up too. Such clever function and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve added you guys to my blogroll. This is an excellent post thanks for sharing this informative information.. I will visit your weblog frequently for some latest post.
Wonderful web-site, wherever did you discovered this information in this article? I am glad I found it. i’ll be checking out back soon to verify what other content it is possible to have.